Proclaiming Liberalism, and What It Now Means
By PATRICIA COHEN
New York Times
The struggle among conservatives to define their movement in the post-Bush era may be getting more attention these days, but liberal intellectuals and writers are doing some soul-searching of their own. Not only are they trying to figure out what “the L word” now means, but also whether it could become a guiding philosophy in the 2008 presidential campaign by embracing the very ideas that are often seen as its greatest weaknesses: family values and a proactive government.
In several recent and forthcoming books (not to mention in bars and countless blog posts) liberals have been arguing over their past and their future. Al Gore’s new book, “The Assault on Reason,” with its merciless dissection of the Bush presidency, is getting the most attention. Unlike Mr. Gore, however, most of the other liberal authors are focused less on criticizing those in power than in defending and revitalizing their own philosophy.
There is a “new opening for a more robust liberalism,” said Michael Tomasky, editor at large of the liberal magazine The American Prospect. “It’s a very fascinating debate, because it’s also playing out to some extent in the world. Each of the three main Democratic candidates represents a specific and distinct place on the ideological continuum, from center to left, with Hillary Clinton towards the center, John Edwards towards the left, and Barack Obama occupying a still distinct place in between.”
While no one in the Democratic presidential field is exactly advertising as the “liberal” candidate, and polls show only 20 percent of Americans are willing to identify themselves as liberal (a number that has remained fairly steady since at least 1992), deep dissatisfaction with the Bush administration’s handling of the war in Iraq, combined with other political developments, is giving liberals who dared not speak their name their voices back. A whiff of an old-fashioned revival meeting, where believers stand up and unabashedly declare their faith, can even be occasionally detected.
(The rest is here.)
New York Times
The struggle among conservatives to define their movement in the post-Bush era may be getting more attention these days, but liberal intellectuals and writers are doing some soul-searching of their own. Not only are they trying to figure out what “the L word” now means, but also whether it could become a guiding philosophy in the 2008 presidential campaign by embracing the very ideas that are often seen as its greatest weaknesses: family values and a proactive government.
In several recent and forthcoming books (not to mention in bars and countless blog posts) liberals have been arguing over their past and their future. Al Gore’s new book, “The Assault on Reason,” with its merciless dissection of the Bush presidency, is getting the most attention. Unlike Mr. Gore, however, most of the other liberal authors are focused less on criticizing those in power than in defending and revitalizing their own philosophy.
There is a “new opening for a more robust liberalism,” said Michael Tomasky, editor at large of the liberal magazine The American Prospect. “It’s a very fascinating debate, because it’s also playing out to some extent in the world. Each of the three main Democratic candidates represents a specific and distinct place on the ideological continuum, from center to left, with Hillary Clinton towards the center, John Edwards towards the left, and Barack Obama occupying a still distinct place in between.”
While no one in the Democratic presidential field is exactly advertising as the “liberal” candidate, and polls show only 20 percent of Americans are willing to identify themselves as liberal (a number that has remained fairly steady since at least 1992), deep dissatisfaction with the Bush administration’s handling of the war in Iraq, combined with other political developments, is giving liberals who dared not speak their name their voices back. A whiff of an old-fashioned revival meeting, where believers stand up and unabashedly declare their faith, can even be occasionally detected.
(The rest is here.)
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